According to the National Weather Service, the official snowfall recorded for southeastern Michigan through Monday totals 33.9 inches. That’s about 3.6 inches more than normal.

“That’s one snowfall,” said Dave Kook, a meteorologist with the NWS. “It’s not that big a deal.”

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But if it seems like more, here’s a possible explanation. The 33.9 inches we’ve shoveled from our driveways this winter is 12.3 inches – that’s right, more than a foot – more than during the same period a year ago, one of the mildest winters in recent memory.

The average annual snowball for southeastern Michigan is 42.7 inches, according to the NWS.

The men and women responsible for keeping county and local clear of snow and ice might not have computers and statistics to gauge snowfall. But they, too, know 2012-2013 has been a bit busier than last year.

“It’s been a little bit above average,” said Ben Nabors, superintendent of the Warren Department of Public Works. “

Right now, we’re into the freeze-and-thaw kind of thing.”

When Nabors called in his crews last Saturday to deal with intense late-afternoon snow squalls, it marked the 13th time this season he’s summoned workers after hours. Last year, Nabors beckoned his employees just seven times all season.

Moreover, when Nabors called recently to order more salt to ensure Warren has enough to get through the season, he wasn’t greeted with the usual promise of a 24-hour delivery.

“It was like, ‘Get in line,’” Nabors said.

Robert Hoepfner, director of the Macomb County Department of Roads, echoed Nabors’ assessment of the winter of 2012-2013. While southeastern Michigan hasn’t been hammered yet with the kind of heavy snowstorms that rocked other parts of the country, Old Man Winter has kept the salt crews plenty busy. “We’ve had some really strange storms,” he said.

Through Feb. 7, the last day for which figures were available, Macomb County road crews had used 22,241 tons of salt, Hoepfner said, a 6-percent increase over the 20,941 tons spread over the same period a year ago.

For the entire season last year, the county used nearly 26,000 tons of salt. By contrast, the winter of 2010-2011 saw the road department dump more than 48,000 tons on Macomb County’s 1,800 miles of roads.

Last Saturday, the late-afternoon squalls produced white-out conditions in some areas of the county and created treacherous driving conditions.

The snow developed so quickly, Hoepfner said, crews had barely begun to assemble before the roads became hazardous.

“It was a beautiful day up until 3 or 4 o’clock,” Hoepfner said.

Crews wound up working a full eight hours at a cost the road director estimated between $75,000 and $100,000.

“And there wasn’t any accumulation,” he said. “We just put salt down all night.”